


A Matter of Metaphysics

by MageKing17



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Fanfiction, Gen, Post-Naruto's Return, mental gymnastics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 21:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18668851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageKing17/pseuds/MageKing17
Summary: Shikako tries to explain why she can't use the Hiraishin without explaining why she can't use the Hiraishin.





	A Matter of Metaphysics

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PsychoticTendency](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychoticTendency/gifts).



> I wrote this almost as soon as assignments were given out, and then was confused, because it was completely different from what I'd _intended_ to write; I tried to then write what I'd originally intended, but it kept spiraling out of control, and this was still just sitting there, perfectly fitting the prompt, so here we are.

It was supposed to be a joke, honestly.

Jiraiya was catching up with Shikako's sealing work, and the Nara had dragged Tenten along, insisting she'd been instrumental to the development of many of the now standard-issue seal designs.

"You know," he'd said, not even attempting to be serious, "with the way you've been going, I'm surprised you haven't deployed your own version of the Hiraishin."

"Actually—" Shikako began, only to be immediately interrupted.

" _No!_ " Jiraiya said, mouth gaping. "You're not allowed to just _casually mention_ 'oh, by the way, I did that, too!'"

Shikako gave him a long-suffering glare and pulled an antique Hiraishin kunai out of thin air. " _As I was saying_ , I can't use any version of the Hiraishin because my mental model of the universe is more... messy. The number of extra elements I'd need to ensure accurate travel would make the resultant seal so large it could never be compressed onto a kunai, and so complex I could never hold all of it in my head at once in order to place it with a touch.

" _However_ ," she continued, glancing towards Tenten, "I have been meaning to test the theory that somebody _else_ might be able to adapt the original in some way; I just haven't had time recently."

Tenten gaped at Shikako. "You... you think _I_ could figure out the Hiraishin when _you_ can't?"

Shikako suddenly turned bashful, staring at the ground and absently rubbing her ANBU tattoo. "You'd be more likely to be able to use it than me."

Jiraiya stared at the strange jounin in front of him, trying and failing to figure out her thought process. "Hold on, back up a minute. What do you mean, 'your mental model of the universe is more messy'?"

Now Shikako looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Well, if I explain it, that might make it so that neither of you can use a variant of the Hiraishin, either."

"What does that even _mean_?" Tenten said, flabbergasted.

Shikako stared into the sky, clearly thinking hard. "It's like... a mental virus, sort of. If you've been exposed to the idea, it makes you unable to use a seal based on a more simplistic model of the world. If you don't see the world the same way as the original designer of the seal, then there's no chance of it working as intended for you."

Jiraiya frowned. "If changing one's perception of the world changes one's ability to use the seal, why can't you just change how _you_ see the world?"

Shikako suddenly got very still. "You know, the longer this conversation goes on, the less likely that either of you will ever be able to use the Hiraishin."

_Classic giveaway, going blank like that,_ Jiraiya thought automatically. _She obviously thinks that her "mental model of the universe" is more correct and _can't_ abandon it for a more simplistic one, no matter how hard she tries... which means she must have experienced something wildly outside the ordinary to confirm that model._

_Which, given the amount of weird shit she's been through, could be just about anything._

"Wait," Jiraiya said, suddenly remembering something Shikako had said much earlier. "How would you know how large or complicated the seal would need to be to account for your 'messier model'? Have you actually _done_ it?"

Shikako blinked in surprise at the change in topic, then gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I mean, you never know until you try, right?"

Tenten suddenly looked much warier of Shikako than she had been before she said that.

"...And?" Jiraiya said, gesturing impatiently.

"And it's definitely too big to be put on a kunai," Shikako said, insistently.

"A lot of things are bigger than a kunai," Tenten pointed out, one skeptical eyebrow raised.

Shikako resolutely did not meet the gaze of either of them. "That is a true statement," she granted.

Jiraiya snorted. "You're never going to say what you did with it, are you?"

"Did with what?" Shikako said with a smirk.


End file.
